Quiz: Do You Know Your Weather Terminology?

| by The Weather Channel Staff

You can only call yourself a weather geek if you get 80% or higher on this quiz! Test your weather terminology skills below:

Tell us your results below! Do you get ultimate weather geek bragging rights or do you need to take a crash course in meteorology?

Join the Discussion

156 Comments

  1. 7/10. My second answer for 2 out of three was the right one. Not to bad… Gotta study more if I wanna become one though.

  5. got 6 right ive learned a lot watching the weather channel over the years about weather listening to the meteorolgists explain weather patterns and about different weather topics and scenerios,been a loyal fan since the first day you went on air many years ago,your channel is all i watch

  6. 8 of 10. Inadvertently clicked wrong on one. Career in meteorology? Yes, if I could go back and start over!!

  7. 10/10 I watch AMHQ each and every morning while having my morning coffee. I am like a fish out of water if I am unable to watch AMHQ in the morning.

  8. 10/10 🙂
    Read all the weather books I can get my hands on, plus websites and apps. Planning on going into meteorology once I graduate. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a weather nerd, but I learn something new every day. Thanks for the quiz!

  11. 4/10… I still call myself a Weather Geek/Young Meteorologist in Training. No quiz can change that! Besides, I haven’t taken any Meteorology classes yet…

    1. I got 10 out of 10!!!! YAY!!!! I’m only 14 but I study up on my meteorology
      Nice questions on the quiz
      Never heard Jim Cantore or Mike Bettes mention a derecho though
      Still I’m glad I remember

      1. Only 14 years old and a Star Wars fan? 🙂 Gosh, I feel ANCIENT. I was 16 when the FIRST, original Star Wars came out! LOL

  14. Derecho? Derecho! Has Jim Cantori EVER used that word? Great quiz except for THAT one. Love the word, but get it out there into the public vocabulary. Next thing I know, you’ll be all over the Haboob! 😉

  15. The first time I only got 5 right but thats because I did not read them right. My goal was 7. Good Job everyone else!

  17. 8 for 10, so I passed the test . . . but I should have gotten 9 or 10. Total brain cramp on question 1. When it said “northwest Pacific,” I pictured the pacific ocean near California, Oregon, and Washington . . . which is actually the northeastern Pacific, where the storm would be called a Hurricane . . . but the northwestern Pacific is over by Japan, you GENIUS!!!

    On the measure of water vapor in the air, I answered dewpoint instead of humidity. At first, I disagreed when it said I was wrong, but I think I get it now–technically, the dewpoint is a temperature at which water vapor would start condensing, not an actual measurement of that amount of water vapor. I didn’t answer “humidity” because I was thinking “relative humidity”, which is a percentage and not an actual quantity of water . . . but the question was probably talking about “absolute humidity”, not relative humidity.

  24. 10/10 been watching TWC since the start and do grassroots disaster relief so I have to stay aware of changing weather

  26. Eight out of ten. Missed heat lightning and monsoon. Don’t have either here in Northern California. Is that a good excuse? Heck no! I should have known.

  28. 70% My only excuse might be I live in an area of Alaska that gets lightning about once a year and tends to be cloudy with 130 inches of rain per year.

  29. 9/10 Only messed up on derecho. And meteorology is going to be important for my chosen profession, pilot. But I’m famous around my family for being the weather geek, and always wanting to chase the occasional thunderstorm that comes through.

  30. 9/10. Been watching TWC since it started.
    Really learned a lot from them. My friends look at me with awe when I talk about a weather condition/phenomenon with them.
    If I could do it all over I’d definitely be a
    meteorologist. Thanks for the quiz-would like to see more like this.

  31. I’m a meteorology undergrad right now, and was wondering if anyone would be willing to clarify the choice between humidity and dew point, since both are ways of expressing the water vapor content of the air? (I’m going to assume when we say humidity we’re talking about the relative humidity, being the ratio of the mixing ratio to the saturation mixing ratio and not one of the other ways of calculating it) The answer choices kinda threw me off since the dewpoint is directly related to the amount of water vapor in the air.

    1. You should send your question to
      Jen Carfagno. She calls herself
      “The DewPoint Diva”.

    2. I sort of had the same problem as you with this question–I was thinking relative humidity, but maybe they meant “absolute” humidity, and considered dewpoint incorrect because technically, it’s a temperature at which a certain amount of water vapor condenses, and not an actual measurement of that quantity of water vapor.

      1. As I’ve understood dewpoint from my classes, while it is measured in degrees and defined as being the temperature at which water vapor condenses, it is directly related to the water vapor mixing ratio (the amount of water vapor in the air per kilogram of air), which is a measurement of water vapor in the air.

  32. 8 out of 10. I am considered the meteorologist of the house. I’m always watching the weather.

  34. 8/10. Should have gotten heat lightning but figured that term was an old wives’ tale! Meteorology 101/102 45 years ago didn’t help much, but I do enjoy watching WU!

  35. I received 10/10, I’m a trained weather spotter and have been interested in weather my entire life.

  37. 8 out of 10, I would have gotten all 10 right, had I went for my 1st instinct on two tricky ones. Fun quiz though !!!

  38. Only 6/10… but what can I say, other than that Im proud of myself!!😁😁 Im only 12, soon to be 13, so I still have a long way ahead of me 😂

  39. Oh my! 10 out of 10! I am always watching the sky and trying to understand what I observe. Been doing so for the last 60 years or so and don’t intend to stop anytime soon. Country girl

  42. there were 3 where I ALMOST picked the right answer which would have put me in weather geekdom, alas, I ended up with a mediocre 6 out of 10. I hang my head in shame.

  45. I’m not telling because I don’t want to gloat or be embarrassed.
    I know weather pretty well and have loved what it is all about since learning about clouds in elementary school.
    Love the TWC
    Jim Cantore can never retire. xoxo

  46. I got 8 out of 10. Just told husband yesterday I would have loved studying meteorology back in the day. I’m a skywatcher now so that is good.

  47. 9 out of 10. Little too late in life to change careers, though! Been watching the Weather Channel since it started. A lot of the info has stuck, I guess.

  48. Wow! 4 out of 10 I should have went with my first thought’s on a few of them. I have watch the weather channel more.